Air travel looks very different now than it did just a few years ago when the coronavirus pandemic grounded folks around the world, putting a halt to travel for both leisure and business.
In 2020, passenger traffic on U.S. airlines was at its lowest since the mid-1980s, with just 369 million passengers. In 2021, the U.S. started to get back to more normal air travel levels, and by 2022, the country was up to 853 million airline passengers. By the looks of it, 2023 is likely to outpace those numbers and return to pre-pandemic levels—nearly 3 million people flew in and out of U.S. airports daily as of April 2023, according to data from the Federal Aviation Administration's Air Traffic Organization.
When you're at the airport, shuffling around with your roller bag, backpack, neck pillow, and water bottle among the thousands of other passengers doing the same, you're probably not too concerned with more than your flight. Is it on time? Who will be sitting next to you? Did your checked bag make it onto the plane?
But when you're not in flight mode, you may be wondering where all of the other folks at your local airport are traveling to. To answer that question, Stacker compiled a list of the most common domestic flights from Chicago O'Hare International using data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Destinations are ranked by total passengers from October 2022 to September 2023.
Read on to find out if your flight patterns are similar to your fellow Chicago O'Hare International travelers.
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1 / 20#20. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
- Passengers: 405,258 (1.4% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Spirit Air Lines: 183,909
--- #2. United Air Lines: 175,126
--- #3. American Airlines: 42,700
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2 / 20#19. Tampa International (Tampa, FL)
- Passengers: 419,386 (1.4% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. United Air Lines: 179,490
--- #2. American Airlines: 133,655
--- #3. Spirit Air Lines: 60,963
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3 / 20#18. Philadelphia International (Philadelphia, PA)
- Passengers: 544,159 (1.9% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. American Airlines: 330,219
--- #2. United Air Lines: 209,169
--- #3. Republic Airline: 4,456
#17. Charlotte Douglas International (Charlotte, NC)
- Passengers: 544,177 (1.9% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. American Airlines: 417,133
--- #2. United Air Lines: 117,425
--- #3. Republic Airline: 6,061
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5 / 20#16. Miami International (Miami, FL)
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6 / 20#15. Minneapolis-St Paul International (Minneapolis, MN)
- Passengers: 616,696 (2.1% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. United Air Lines: 288,770
--- #2. Delta Air Lines: 201,465
--- #3. American Airlines: 51,322
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7 / 20#14. Ronald Reagan Washington National (Washington, DC)
- Passengers: 686,981 (2.4% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. American Airlines: 350,461
--- #2. United Air Lines: 263,895
--- #3. SkyWest Airlines: 53,673
#13. George Bush Intercontinental/Houston (Houston, TX)
- Passengers: 707,126 (2.4% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. United Air Lines: 561,821
--- #2. American Airlines: 76,599
--- #3. Spirit Air Lines: 56,329
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9 / 20#12. Seattle/Tacoma International (Seattle, WA)
- Passengers: 717,310 (2.5% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Alaska Airlines: 280,462
--- #2. United Air Lines: 226,538
--- #3. Delta Air Lines: 110,551
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10 / 20#11. Logan International (Boston, MA)
#10. Newark Liberty International (Newark, NJ)
- Passengers: 764,463 (2.6% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. United Air Lines: 544,330
--- #2. American Airlines: 205,476
--- #3. Envoy Air: 9,203
#9. Dallas/Fort Worth International (Dallas/Fort Worth, TX)
- Passengers: 811,732 (2.8% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. American Airlines: 517,267
--- #2. United Air Lines: 203,556
--- #3. Spirit Air Lines: 90,253
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13 / 20#8. Harry Reid International (Las Vegas, NV)
- Passengers: 818,518 (2.8% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. United Air Lines: 304,444
--- #2. American Airlines: 239,464
--- #3. Spirit Air Lines: 165,228
Nate Hovee // Shutterstock
14 / 20#7. Phoenix Sky Harbor International (Phoenix, AZ)
- Passengers: 819,671 (2.8% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. American Airlines: 398,356
--- #2. United Air Lines: 258,488
--- #3. Southwest Airlines: 131,945
#6. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (Atlanta, GA)
- Passengers: 828,700 (2.8% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 390,983
--- #2. United Air Lines: 171,568
--- #3. Spirit Air Lines: 125,580
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16 / 20#5. San Francisco International (San Francisco, CA)
- Passengers: 857,270 (2.9% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. United Air Lines: 658,504
--- #2. American Airlines: 125,674
--- #3. Alaska Airlines: 72,570
Songquan Deng // Shutterstock
17 / 20#4. Orlando International (Orlando, FL)
- Passengers: 879,950 (3.0% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. United Air Lines: 368,680
--- #2. American Airlines: 197,296
--- #3. Spirit Air Lines: 164,496
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18 / 20#3. Denver International (Denver, CO)
- Passengers: 1,009,988 (3.5% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. United Air Lines: 678,728
--- #2. Southwest Airlines: 194,536
--- #3. American Airlines: 135,883
Thiago Leite // Shutterstock
19 / 20#2. LaGuardia (New York, NY)
- Passengers: 1,111,094 (3.8% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. American Airlines: 463,149
--- #2. United Air Lines: 360,874
--- #3. Delta Air Lines: 213,376
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20 / 20#1. Los Angeles International (Los Angeles, CA)
- Passengers: 1,175,315 (4.0% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. United Air Lines: 600,916
--- #2. American Airlines: 426,930
--- #3. Spirit Air Lines: 146,009
This story features data reporting by Rob Powell, writing by Jaimie Etkin, and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 199 metros.
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